Objective: To determine risk factors for recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) in women from southern China.
Method: We looked for associations between RSA and body mass index (BMI), family history of spontaneous abortion, smoking, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS [also known as passive smoking]), and alcohol and coffee consumption using an unconditional logistic regression model involving 326 patients with RSA and 400 controls.
Results: Whereas smoking, alcohol consumption, and coffee consumption were not associated with increased risk of RSA, both short (<1 hour/day) and long (> or =1 hour/day) periods of ETS were associated (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 2.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.50-3.52 and adjusted OR, 4.75; 95% CI, 3.23-6.99, respectively). The increased risk of RSA was significant for participants with a BMI of 24.0 or greater (adjusted OR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.12-2.14) and those with a family history of miscarriage (adjusted OR, 2.12; 95% CI, 1.28-3.49).
Conclusion: We found ETS, a higher BMI, and a family history of RSA to be independent risk factors for RSA in our population.
Copyright 2009 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.